3.07 "Of Vice and Men"

Aired Nov 14, 2006

Roundtable Reviews

funky-donut: I liked this episode a lot. Meryl was too much of a Mandy, though, although less annoying. I'm not really sure why she had to be so dumb. Yes, it turned out she was right, and I get that she was freaked out by her boyfriend being missing, but I also don't totally disagree with Veronica's assumptions about Sully. No matter how much I loved and trusted my boyfriend, aside from being worried sick about him, I'd be damn suspicious when he didn't show up — especially after hearing the phone call from Scarlet. Aside from that plot, I loved Veronica holing up in Wallace's room, hiding from Logan and Keith. I thought her disappointment in Keith was very true to her character. It's interesting that Tim tried to save her idolizing someone and then seeing him fall from grace last week, and this week we got to see the fallout of a different man's fall from grace.

topanga: Pretty good, I agree. I liked last week's episode better, but this one was still entertaining. And I'm digging the Hearst College setting. It's working very well for Veronica and the rest of the cast.

persnicketier: Finally, they managed to actually make me be in suspense. Only in the last few minutes, when Veronica was drugged (which I knew was going to happen as soon as she left her drink). That was creepy.

misskiwi: It was good, but I really regret watching the preview — I mean, the preview was awesome and creepy and made me jump up and down in anticipation for the episode, but it basically just summarized the last five minutes of the episode. Now, that scene was awesome, but I think I would have been a lot more freaked out during the episode if they hadn't hit most of the highlights of it in the preview.

fulfilled: Me too, misskiwi. I knew that it was coming, and I was on edge for it all episode, but I wish I hadn't known.

Inigo: I liked the episode for the mystery fodder. I actually kinda liked Meryl as well. She had a purity about her that was actually refreshing when compared with our jaded heroine. I did, however, find Veronica particularly obtuse in this episode — from Piz's feelings about her, to walking into the River Stix without calling Lamb first, to checking out Mercer's schedule and not noticing that Mercer supposedly finished broadcasting a full 45 minutes before the rape (although that could be Rick's mistake), to being so judgemental and compassionless with Keith and Logan. Not, I'll rush to say, about her leaving the Food Court, rather than calling for help. I thought it was bleedin' obvious that she didn't realise she'd been roofied until she hit the stairs down to the parking garage. But overall, as an episode, it was disappointing after last week.

BethGee: Veronica's hair is bothering me. It is bordering on ratty. I know she was slumming it in a dorm this episode, but please! Is it wrong I hoped the would-be rapist would have shaved off more?

funky-donut: Actually, I kind of liked that in the scene where she was just hanging in Piz's room it was just...hanging there, like she had just gotten out of the shower. I thought it was interesting that she didn't immediately change and do her hair when Piz showed up. Of course, it kind of bothered me that after Meryl showed up, she said she'd look into things, and then one second later, she was dressed and her hair was done perfectly. I mean, I know it's TV magic and all, but she could have said, you know, "okay, just let me get ready for class and I'll see you over there." Nitpicking? Maybe.

topanga: Huh. I didn't even notice that. When Veronica was wearing the t-shirt and boxers, it reminded me how tiny she is. Not scrawny — Kristen Bell is fairly curvy — but quite petite.

What baffled me is why Veronica didn't put on more clothes since Piz was staying. She has to know by now that Piz is feeling her, so was she torturing him on purpose?

misskiwi: She subconsciously knows that he's awesome, and that she should therefore dump Logan's emo ass and date Piz immediately.

*runs to hide from the rabid LoVe shippers*

wyk: When Logan said 9 out of 10 guys would have run from the hotel, I wonder who the 1 out of 10 guy could be? Duncan? Person who wore Duncan's argyle sweater in the season premiere?

*standing right here taunting the LoVe shippers*

Inigo: You don't have to be mean.

misskiwi: The mystery of the week wasn't really much of a mystery, was it? There was really only one red herring, and a half-hearted one at that. I didn't find it overly boring or anything, and the scene with the Fitzpatricks was menacing, but it wasn't as twisty as a MotW usually turns out to be.

vix: It feels like this season, and Hearst in general, is full of girls who need help with their boyfriends. The football playbook couple, the...well, my mind went blank, but you know what I mean. Also, did Veronica get paid for helping Meryl?

grim squeaker: Meryl was a moron of Mandy dimensions, but I found her a little more likable. I could have lived without the anvillicious compare & contrast exercise the MOTW drew between V and her mistrust of Logan, and Meryl and her feeling that Sully had been hurt. Besides, it's kind of stupid, because while Occam's Razor worked for Logan — he had to keep quiet about the alibi, otherwise Mercer would have been screwed, nevermind that he certainly would have deserved it — it also worked for Veronica, because like she thought, he didn't want to tell her because he had again messed up. In conclusion, I'm not so sure we have a message of "Learn to trust, Veronica!" here so much as the realization that she simply can't, because she is not as moronic sheltered and trusting as Meryl.

persnicketier: Vinnie: good guy/bad guy...make up your mind guy.

BethGee: Vinnie: give the man a spin-off. I am always overjoyed to see Marino in the guest credits. He seemed slightly more malicious than usual as the show began, but became all helpful with the MotW, coming through in the clutch once again. And his joke about the camera phone was PRICELESS.

funky-donut: I agree. Vinnie is awesome. I totally joked around last week and said that I bet Harmony's husband would hire Vinnie and he would catch Keith and Harmony, and I was right! I'm awesome. Anyway, yes, I'm always glad when he's around.

Inigo: Ever so convenient, though, don't you think? The timing? They haven't had sex in eight months, then he manages to hire Vinnie and catch her in the one act of adultery with Keith, two days after she rung him to say "wanna go to the pictures." That smells to me.

vix: I love Vinnie. Every time I see Ken Marino in the credits I squee, bc he is awesome. He's just so funny and skeezy and sang a Hall and Oates song... *love* What're the odds Harmony's husband hired Vinnie to track her down? Are there like 2 PIs in the whole Neptune area?

grim squeaker: Vinnie was awesome, I loved that he got to be blackmailer and white knight in the same episode.

grim squeaker: As for Keith and Harmony, I felt myself being kind of sad for both. Yes, I'm pretty sure Harmony wouldn't have left her husband in a million years, but the whole thing certainly had a tragic aspect. And it was a nice parallel to the whole Rebecca James situation - Keith ending a relationship essentially because of Veronica - while at the same time, it's far less innocent. Keith has certainly developed.

topanga: I understand Veronica's disappointment with Keith, but there were several times I wanted to give her the same warning I give to my own kids: "Watch your tone." If I ever talked to my father the way Veronica talks to Keith, I'd be dead right now. Maybe it's because she's an only child and the daughter of an alcoholic, but she's allowed to be much more "expressive" than most 19 year olds.

[vix:] Me too. I mean, I get she's upset and disappointed, but show him some respect, girl. Back the hell off!

misskiwi: I think Alicia said it best when she pointed out that Keith treats Veronica like a 40 year old, not a teenager.

persnicketier: He really does. That's kinda a lot of pressure on a teen.

funky-donut: Dude, the Fitzpatricks (Go, Fightin' Fitzes!) are back! But why? I mean, they're keeping Vinnie on retainer to try and get the money back from Keith, but Vinnie doesn't know that Kendall is dead? Or something? I don't know. The whole thing seems kind of weird to me. Also, the inside of the building looked the same, but I swear that when Veronica and Logan were there before, it was NOT on a major street. So I was really confused about why Veronica was apprehensive to go inside until she mentioned Logan pulling a gun, and then I realized it was the River Stix.

misskiwi: Yeah, I didn't catch that it was the River Stix at first either -- I think the first time we didn't really see the outside of the building.

Inigo: It was. Veronica and Logan entered through the back last time.

misskiwi: The thing about Kendall confused me too, but then I realized: Cormac and Keith are the only two people who know Kendall is dead, and Cormac probably forgot to impart that information to his baby brother before Liam popped him one. So the Fitzpatricks probably all think she's still alive and tucked away somewhere with all her money.

grim squeaker: Liam was...weird and uncomfortable as opposed to threatening, but still scary. Was he meant to be drunk?

Inigo: What money is Liam talking about? He was really adamant that it was his money, which in a month of Sunday ain't the Phoenix Trust windfall. I'm so confused. But I loved seeing Danny again. He cracks me up. Did you notice that when Meryl tried to rescue Veronica by picking up a beer bottle, presumably to knock him over his hand, Danny was behind her? He did this WTF?! face and just lifted it out of her hand. So funny.

funky-donut: I know Landry is a philanderer, but I actually believed him that the internship wasn't hush money. He's so self-confident (to the point of arrogance), it seems like he really wouldn't give a damn if she ratted him out. Either that or he was just confident that she wouldn't anyway. My point is, I think she should take the internship, dammit. Also, Logan's secret totally wasn't what I expected at all, and I think it's kind of unlikely that he could have come back from that trip without acting guilty enough about running from the fire that Veronica wouldn't have smelled a rat back then. I mean, clearly he knew she would disapprove.

Inigo: Does explain the emo behaviour at the start of the season, doesn't it?

misskiwi: I agree. Veronica is so concerned about holding grudges keeping herself protected from...well, pretty much everything, that she doesn't take opportunities that fall right into her lap for fear that she'll end up on the wrong side of somebody blackmailing her. I guess that's what comes of constantly going around using information as leverage against people; you expect it to be done to you at every opportunity.

I also really liked the conflict that arose between her and Logan here. In "Wichita Linebacker" it seemed a bit forced that Veronica would be paranoid about Logan's whereabouts all the time and insecure, but knowing there's something he's refusing to tell her would drive her nuts. It's an integral part of her character, and the writers definitely used it to their advantage. Their fight felt much less forced and more organically arising from the events around them than before.

fulfilled: This was the first time I was really angry at Veronica, though. I haven't held some of her bitchy behavior against her, but when she was being so snotty to Scarlet and mean to Meryl, I really wanted to throw something at the TV. I understand that she just doesn't get the concept of trusting her boyfriend unconditionally, like Meryl does, but that was the one time her attitude irritated me beyond belief and made me so angry with her.

[aliterator:] Oh, man, I think this episode is awesome. Especially the last five minutes. I mean, I could do without the anvilicious voiceover, but that was super-creepy. And when Veronica starting drinking her soda, I was like "Noooooo!" and then when her vision went all blurry, I wanted her to just ask somebody to help her. And I loved that the VMVO was drugged as well.

topanga: Yeah, the camera work during her drugged scene was awesome. And the music was freaking me out. Wait, there was music, right? It might have just been in my head.

Inigo: As stated, I thought it was obvious that she didn't realise she'd been roofied until she hit the stairs down to the parking garage.

Polter-Cow: I'd like to believe that, but the weird camera effects started while she was in the food court. She was already feeling the effects of the drug, and given that she'd just been drinking something, I thought she knew something was up immediately. If they'd had her maybe just touch her head and "feel funny" rather than actually show us that she was under the influence there, it would have been more clear that Veronica wasn't aware until later.

Inigo: From what I saw they did. She touched her head. She took a deep breath, then you saw her actually "shake it off," as if it was a temporary moment of dizziness and go back to eating.

funky-donut: Well, even if she was already feeling it, drugs like that impair your judgment. Her normal-Veronica smarts were clouded. She just desperately wanted to get home, and she wasn't thinking clearly. I don't blame her at all for going for her car rather than staying in the food court. Nobody wants to pass out in public.

grim squeaker:I also agree with funky that by the time she had finished her food, her judgement must have been severely impaired, so going to the parking lot wouldn't appear stupid to her.

misskiwi: I agree; the drug impaired Veronica's judgment to the point that it took her a while to realize that her judgment was impaired and she'd been drugged. My mom and I had the same conversation during the episode; she was "telling" Veronica to make herself throw up to get some of it out of her system, and I pointed out that the very fact that the drug was already in her system probably precluded her from being able to come up with that idea, or realize that she needed to come up with that sort of idea.

misskiwi: So, now we've seen the rapist, and all you "the feminists are faking the rapes!" conspiracy theorists can go sit quietly in the corner, because that was quite clearly a man's hand that picked up Veronica's keys.

wyk: Or a very butch lady with man hands...or a guy the femnists hired to attack Veronica...

misskiwi: Occam's razor, people. If it looks like a rapist, drugs like a rapist, and shaves heads like a rapist...are you there yet?

Inigo: Pft. This person drew blood. No blood on Stacy, no blood on Parker. It probably is, probably made careless by time pressure, but, like Veronica should have learned by now, there isn't always....there.